Pressurized fluid dispensing container

ABSTRACT

A pressurized fluid dispensing container, in which a fluid pressure vessel is positioned in an outer container and carries an outlet valve at its upper end. The lower end abuts, preferably via a pressure piece which may be threadably adjustable, the bottom wall of the vessel, while the outlet valve is located adjacent the outer container lid, so that, should said vessel expand axially due to increase in temperature, the valve is depressed, releasing some of the fluid. The quantity of fluid in the vessel may be measured by a spring balance arrangement.

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V [57] ABSTRACT I A pressurized fluid dispensing container, in which a[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 11, 1970Gennany................... P 20 39 826.9

fluid pressure vessel is positioned in an outer con- [52] US. 222/29,222/183, 222/397, tainer and carries an outlet valve at its upper end.The lower end abuts, preferably via a pressure piece which may bethreadably adjustable, the bottom wall of the vessel, while the outletvalve is located adjacent the outer container lid, so that, should saidvessel expand axially due to increase in temperature, the valve isdepressed, releasing some of the fluid. The quantity of 3 3 2 H8100 si-Z1 O 7 w. 5 9m 1 09 7 3 w u My m 29 33 m mnAw mm,22 "70; ""0047 4: Mmzw2 m OU m 3 0 mhw fi ln m2o C 4 Ld mm .1] 18 55 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS fluid in the vessel may be measured by a springance arrangement.

2,757,964 8/1956 Both et al. 222/397 6 Claims, 2 Drawing FiguresPATENTEDUCT so 1573 INVENTOR 1 PRESSURIZED FLUID DISPENSING CONTAINERThe present invention relates to a pressurized fluid dispensingcontainer.

Aerosol cans having an inner vessel for the pressurised fluid, with avalve at the top, and an outer containr have found acceptance in manyfields for spraying liquids or for blowing compressed gas containedtherein. They are used, for example, for spraying paints, for sprayingcosmetics or for producing a flow of gas in injectors. If liquids are tobe sprayed, then they are under the pressure of a compressed propellantgas contained in the inner vessel. If a stream of gas is to be produced,the gas which issues as a rule represents the sole medium contained inthe inner vessel.

Since gases are known to possess a very high thermal coefficient ofexpansion, the vessels containing compressed gas must not be warmedabove certain temperatures which are relatively little above roomtemperature, if the danger of an explosion is to be excluded. For thisreason, all aerosol cans as a rule carry a printed note that the cansshould be prevented from rising in temperature to above a certain limit.Such rises in temperature cannot, however, always beavoided. Thus itfrequently happens that temperatures of 70 C and above are measured inthe boot or in the interior of a motor vehicle which has been parked inthe sun. On beaches with very intense sunshine the temperature rise inbeach bags or the like can be so great that the permissible temperaturelimit for cosmetic aerosol cans contained therein are exceeded. Theaerosol bottles which are used in respiration equipment and life-savingequipment on beaches, such as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,919entitled Section Apparatus, can also not always be protected effectivelyagainst an impermissible rise in temperature.

According to the present invention, there is provided a pressurisedfluid dispensing container comprising an outer container having aninternal abutment spaced from the bottom wall thereof, a pressurizedfluid vessel mounted within said outer container, the lower end of thefluid vessel directly or indirectly abutting the bottom wall of theouter container and an axially operable outlet valve at the upper end ofthe vessel adjacent the abutment member, whereby, upon axial expansionof the pressurized fluid vessel due to increase in pressure of thefluid, the outlet valve is opened by abutment with the abutment memberto release some of the fluid.

The abutment member may take any suitable form such as a bridgeextending across the interior of the outer container, but preferably itis simply the lid of the outer container, and this may be removable.

With the construction of the invention, should the rise in temperatureexceed the permissible limits, an elastic deformation of the vesseltakes place .before the explosive limit is reached. This elasticdeformation is employed to displace the entire vessel in the directionof the lid of the container and hence to actuate the valve which restsdirectly, or almost rests, against the lid of the container. As aresult, the gas which is under dangerous pressure escapes and reducesthe pressure prevailing in the interior of the vessel.

As a rule, the escape of the gas or the liquid to be sprayed results ina considerable cooling, because of the expansion of the propellant gas,and this contributes to a further reduction in pressure. As a resultofthe container being designed so as to correspond to the dimensions ofthe vessel, the valve located on the vessel acts as a safety valvewithout special additional devices.

Aerosol cans as a rule possess a bottom which is domed inwards. In sucha case, according to a further feature of the invention, a pressurepiece is interposed between the bottom of the container and the lowerend of the vessel. This pressure piece is suitably fixed to the bottomof the container. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, thispressure piece can be screwed into the bottom of the container. Thispermits one s own adjustment to ensure in each case that the valve restsagainst the lid of the container.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood, thefollowing description is given, merely by way of example, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through one embodiment of containeraccording to the invention, which is employed in conjunction with anartificial respiration apparatus, and

FIG. 2 shows a further embodiment of a container according to theinvention.

FIG. 1 shows a suction apparatus similar to that disclosed in my U.S.Pat. No. 3,665,919, which consists essentially of an outer closablecontainer 1, for an inner pressurized fluid vessel 2, an injector 3 anda collector vessel 4 connected to the injector 3.

The vessel 2 has, at its upper end, an axially actuatable outlet valve5, which rests against the injector 3 and can be pressed in through anaxial displacement of the pressurized vessel 2. The axial displacementof the vessel 2 is made possible by a pressure piece 6 which isconnected to a rotating knob 8 screwed into the bot-.

tom 7 of the container 1. The pressure piece 6 here acts on the concavebottom 9 of the vessel 2.

Around the pressure piece 6 there is a helical spring 10 which rests onthe bottoms 7 and 9 of the container 1 and of the vessel 2,respectively.

The suction apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the detailed description of whichis disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,919, is part of the first aidequipment for use at swimming baths or on beaches. If now, as a resultof sunshine or the like, the temperature of the vessel 2 rises too much,a considerable increase in pressure of the gas contained thereinresults, and this in turn causes an elastic deformation of thesheet-metal vessel 2. The greatest deformation here occurs at theconcave bottom 9 of the vessel 2. As a result of this deformation, theentire vessel is pushed in the direction of the valve 5, the latter ispressed into the injector 3, and hence gas is released. As a result, thepressure in the vessel 2 drops, and the cooling resulting from theescape of gas additionally assists the reduction in pressure as a resultof a drop in temperature.

In the embodiment shown, the pressure piece 6 is made axially adjustablethrough screwing in the rotating knob 8 which at the same time serves toactuate the valve 5. Furthermore, the injector 3 serves as a lid for thecontainer 1. However, considerably simpler arrangements are alsopossible. Forexample, the injector 3 may be replaced by an ordinaryscrew lid and the adjustable pressure piece 6 may be replaced by apressure piece which is permanently fixed to the bottom 7 of thecontainer 1. In this case the length of the container 1 must beforehandbe so adjusted to the length of the vessel 2, that the pressure piec'erests against the bottom of the vessel and the valverests directly, oralmost rests, against the lid. By choosing a screw lid, however,individual adjustment of these length conditions can also be achieved inthis case, so that unavoidable tolerance variations can be compensated.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a container according to the inventionwhich substantially corresponds to the container 1 represented in FIG. 1and therefore like parts have been given the same reference numbers. Thecontainer 1 is shown without a lid. It once again holds a vessel 2having a valve 5 at its upper end. A spring is provided between thebottoms 7 and 9 of the container 1 and the vessel 2, respectively. Onthe outer wall of the vessel 2 there is a scale 12, running axially, andcooperating with a marking 13, in the shape of an arrow, on thecontainer 1. The position and calibration of the scale 12 is so adjustedto the marking 13 or the stiffness of the spring 11 that with the lidremoved, the weight of the vessel 2, that is to say the weight of thecontents, can be determined from the relative position of the scale 12and the marking 13. The calibration of the scale 12 is convenientlygiven in percentage degrees of filling. Of course any other scale unitwhich appears suitable can be used.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the container 1 is transparent. Ifthe container consists of an opaque material it is convenientto provide,in place of the arrow marking 13, an aperture for taking a reading,through which the scale 12 can be observed. In this case either thescale 12 is provided over the entire periphery of the pressurized vessel2, or several such apertures for taking a reading are formed in thecontainer ll, in order to ensure that the scale 12 can be read even ifthe pressurized vessel 2 is rotated relative to the container 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, a further spring 14 is provided at the upper,valve-side, end of the pressurized vessel 2, acting against the lowerspring 10. This spring 14 can be employed to balance the springiness ofthe spring if, in order to save cost, the pressure piece 6 is to bedispensed with and the spring 10 is to assume its role. If then the lidis closed, the valve 5 is freed by the spring 14 of the force of thespring 10, so that the valve cannot be pressed in. If, on the otherhand, the temperature of the vessel 2 rises to an impermissible extent,the concave bottom 9 of the vessel 2 deforms outwards, compresses thelower spring 10 and hence pushes the vessel 2 against the lid, andpresses in the valve 5, in the man ner already explained above.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, spiral springs are shown asthe springs. However, for particularly cheap and simple embodiments leafsprings can in particular be used, which can easily be fixed to thebottom of cardboard containers or other containers and which, as regardstheir mode of action, are identical to the spiral springs describedabove.

As shown in FIG. 1, an annular electrical battery 15 is provided at theupper end of the container 1, and feeds, via leads 16, a heating coil 17placed around the valve end of the vessel 2. This arrangement makes itpossible to compensate for severe cooling of the vessel 2 which occurswhen. the gas escapes; this cooling in many cases results in thepressure in the pressurized vessel dropping very greatly, the speed ofescape of the gas hence declines, and as a consequence thereof thesuction action of the injector 3 (as described in detail in my U.S. Pat.No. 3,665,919) is considerably impaired. In order to improve the heatingeffect it is advisable to choosethe material of which the jacket of thevessel 2 is made so as to be a good conductor of heat. For practicalpurposes, aluminium, which is in any case used in most instances, issuitable.

Of course, the heating coil 17 should only come into operation if theescape of gas is to be initiated manually, that is to say not in theemergency case explained above. For this purpose, the leads 16 can becontrolled from the rotating knob 8 via a switch which is not shown.

I claim:

1. A pressurized fluid dispensing container comprising, in combination:an outer container; a bottom wall at the lower end of the outercontainer; an. internal abutment member spaced from the lower end of thecontainer forming a removable lid of the outer container; a pressurizedfluid vessel mounted within the outer container; a lower end of thevessel abutting the bottom wall of the outer container; a spring locatedbetween the bottom wall of the container and the lower end of thepressurized fluid vessel; markings on the vessel and container toindicate the compression of the spring and thus the degree of filling ofthe vessel; and an axially operable outlet valve at the upper end of thevessel adjacent the abutment member, whereby, upon axial expansion ofthe pressurized fluid vessel due to increase of temperature of thefluid, the outlet valve is opened by abutment with the abutment memberto release some of the fluid.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein the lower end of the vesselis domed inwards; and further comprising a pressure piece interposedbetween the lower end and the bottom wall of the container.

3. A container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pressure piece isthreaded to the bottom wall of the container, and further comprising anactuating knob carried by the pressure piece externally of the bottomwall for the axial displacement of the vessel and'actuation of thevalve.

4. A container as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a second springdisposed between the upper end of the vessel and the abutment member.

5. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein the marking on the vesselis a scale thereon, and further comprising means defining at least oneaperture in the container in front of the scale for taking a reading.

. 6. A container as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a lid for thecontainer, an injector positioned in the lid to receive the outletvalve, and a collector vessel in the lid connected to the injector.

1. A pressurized fluid dispensing container comprising, in combination:an outer container; a bottom wall at the lower end of the outercontainer; an internal abutment member spaced from the lower end of thecontainer forming a removable lid of the outer container; a pressurizedfluid vessel mounted within the outer container; a lower end of thevessel abutting the bottom wall of the outer container; a spring locatedbetween the bottom wall of the container and the lower end of thepressurized fluid vessel; markings on the vessel and container toindicate the compression of the spring and thus the degree of filling ofthe vessel; and an axially operable outlet valve at the upper end of thevessel adjacent the abutment member, whereby, upon axial expansion ofthe pressurized fluid vessel due to increase of temperature of thefluid, the outlet valve is opened by abutment with the abutment memberto release some of the fluid.
 2. A container as claimed in claim 1wherein the lower end of the vessel is domed inwards; and furthercomprising a pressure piece interposed between the lower end and thebottom wall of the container.
 3. A container as claimed in claim 2,wherein the pressure piece is threaded to the bottom wall of thecontainer, and further comprising an actuating knob carried by thepressure piece externally of the bottom wall for the axial displacementof the vessel and actuation of the valve.
 4. A container as claimed inclaim 1 further comprising a second spring disposed between the upperend of the vessel and the abutment member.
 5. A container as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the marking on the vessel is a scale thereon, andfurther comprising means defining at least one aperture in the containerin front of the scale for taking a reading.
 6. A container as claimed inclaim 1 further comprising a lid for the container, an injectorpositioned in the lid to receive the outlet valve, and a collectorvessel in the lid connected to the injector.